Sex assaults down at 4 Memphis colleges
TBI’s 2016 ‘Crime on Campus’ report shows sexual crime on campuses statewide drops
One year after five of the seven major institutions of higher learning in Memphis reported increases in sexual assaults, those numbers dropped at every school except the University of Memphis in 2016.
That’s based on the 2016 “Crime on Campus” report, which was released Thursday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
That mirrors the statewide numbers on sexual assaults, according to the TBI report. From 2015 to 2016, total forcible sexual assaults at the state’s campuses decreased by 27 percent, from 132 to 97. Rapes also saw a 27 percent decrease, dropping from 62 to 45.
In 2015, reported sexual assaults increased to varying degrees at the University of Memphis, Rhodes College, Christian Brothers University, Southwest Tennessee Community College and the Memphis College of Art.
But in 2016, however, numbers reported to the TBI showed every one of those schools with a drop in that category, except the U of M which increased from six offenses to nine.
Rhodes dropped from 21 to 13 sex assaults, CBU decreased from four to zero, Southwest went from two to zero and MCA went from one to zero. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center reported no sexual assaults either year.
The numbers LeMoyne-Owen reported to TBI show zero crimes at all on the campus in 2015 and just three in 2016. TBI officials did not respond when asked about those numbers Thursday.
Although those numbers seem good at first glance, a local women’s advocate remained skeptical, primarily because some sexual assault victims still do not report the crime.
“Everything we’ve ever known, from victims, from advocates, from law enforcement, is that what’s reported is a small portion of what actually happens,” said Deborah Clubb, executive director of the Memphis Area Women’s Council. “If that’s down, then I would bet any amount of money it’s a reduction in the reporting, not in what happened on campus.”
Derek Myers, interim chief of police at U of M, wonders if the increase there is because more victims have come forward.
“I actually think that that is symptomatic of both the national and local efforts in recent years to get survivors to report
Good Friday, April 14 — at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Germantown and Collierville Church of Christ.
Some of the qualifying candidates may aim for a Shelby County Board of Commissioners appointment to fill the seat in the short interim. The commission will accept applications March 21-27 for the interim position and is slated to pick an applicant April 3, although some commissioners — Terry Roland, most vocally — have argued the legislative session will probably end before the appointment.
Still, in case the session goes long, several commissioners say they want to appoint someone who will oppose a controversial voucher bill sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey. The debate over the appointment will continue in the commission’s 3:30 p.m. meeting March 20. The deadline to withdraw from the election is noon Monday.
Just days after the spring legislative session began, Lovell turned in his resignation after a reportedly alcohol-fueled evening in which he allegedly groped a woman.
Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.